Sir John/Julio the Noble macaw

GOOD NEWS!

I just got a call from Sir John's rescue and we have been approved to adopt him! YEA! Lupe is very happy also and maybe even more excited than I if you can believe that.

Now we need good traveling weather without snow storms and or bad thunderstorms, tornadoes to travel down to KS to get him. Tomorrow my sister is coming up to help me with getting his cage out of storage and getting the office set up with the cage. Then I need to get perches and toys for him. (I will wait to to buy toys until I speak to the foster mom to find out what he likes/dislikes and all) We are looking to travel down to KS to get him in early May. I THINK May is a more mellow month for weather? LOL

It will be wonderful to have a Noble macaw in the house again. Eventually his cage will next to Valentino's after he passes quarantine. Unfortunately he will have to be in quarantine for quite a while but because Sir John/Julio's cage will be in my office he will not want for attention.

Here is a pic of the little guy that was posted on the rescue website.


I will be posting and blogging about his homecoming and adjustment period along with lots of pictures.

I learned that he has been with their rescue so long because his first foster was going to keep him. Unfortunately when they had to move they moved to a place that would not let them have Sir John. The second foster has had him for about year and half. They have their own birds and enjoy fostering him but did not want to adopt him (she has 3 amazons and will foster only 1 bird at a time). With our adopting Sir John this will open up her home to foster another bird in need.

His personality is described as typical Noble macaw which pleases me. I understand that this parrot will not be my Mihijo but with all the trouble I went though to find him I feel very blessed this has all come together for us to adopt him. I wanted our second parrot to be adopted and it sure is sweet that our next parrot is going to be a Noble macaw

Yaaaaay! I'm so happy for you!!!! Take LOTS of photos for us

You have caught my interest with these birds [you post so many good things about them ] There hard to find right? I love the name already Sir john .I want to ask - you could get approved and you sound far away ( they can do that?] Im sure things will be great .Sounds like you have lots of experience and love them dearly .

Nobles are harder to find than Hahns macaws generally.

Thank you everyone for the good wishes. Yes, Noble macaws ARE very hard to find. I got my noble back in 1995 when I was actually looking for a Hahn's macaw. The breeder was a very nice couple that were small breeders and has a bird supply business. I put out feelers for a Hahn's at our bird club and was introduced to the breeder, was invited over to their home to see the parents (they were very tame) and I decided because they were so wonderful I had to have one of the babies. I paid $550 back then which I thought was kind of a lot but always felt my Mihijo was worth every penny.

That is how I ended up with a Noble macaw. In the over 20 years I have spent learning and experiencing parrots I have never met another parrot quite like the Noble macaw in temperament and personality. They do not nip, they are not aggressive, love to learn tricks, talk very well, are real cuddle bugs but are independent also and best of all Mihijo loved everyone. Noble macaw's are the most laid back of the mini macaws.

With the description of Sir John/Julio he is a typical noble. I asked about triggers and quirks, anything negative and apparently Although Sir John loves men (his first foster was a man that was going to adopt him but had to move to non pet place and he could not take his little buddy) but he also loves his foster mom and her two girls. I asked how he does with change, how does he handle stress and again typical of Noble macaw he weathers stresses and changes very well. That does not mean I am not going to give that extra TLC with some bonding trust exercises and all but I feel real good about this adoption. I feel we are going to be able to help this parrot and we are going to be his forever home even if he presents with quirks, triggers or what not.

It took me over 6 months to find a Noble macaw. It was Monica who directed me to Sir John and I am very grateful for her giving me the information. It was hard for me to find a breeder I trusted enough that not only had true Noble macaws but no one seemed to have any to purchase babies or adults. I pretty much gave up the idea of finding another and concentrated on the second parrot being one that needs a home. We were looking at BCC, YCM, Bronze wing Pionus and an Alex. Since the second parrot would mostly be Lupe's bird I wanted her to connect with a parrot either at the rescue we were going to visit or get another baby of a species she wanted. What did Lupe want above all other species? The Noble Macaw. The species that was the hardest for me to find.

We were blessed with finding Sir John and over the moon we have been approved to be his forever home.

Good luck on getting Sir John!!!! Can't wait for you guys to bring him home!!!

Congrats!! I am so happy you were approved. Can't wait to hear about Sir John when you get him home.

Congratulations to you and especially Lupe! I have a suggestion. What do you think about having his current foster person take him in for a blood draw then get it sent off for DNA disease testing now, instead of after you get him. Since he is not in a rescue facility where new birds will be showing up before you go pick him up, he likely would not be exposed in the next month. You could verify that the people in the home do not expose themselves to other parrots outside the home.

I have a difficult time doing a true quarantine in my home because of the open floor plan so I have to do the blood tests before the bird comes to me. It has worked very well. I am only talking disease testing, not the full blood panel. But disease testing is what you need in lieu of quarantine.

I recommend having the blood/swabs sent to Dr Dahlhausen at vmdlabs.com. His facility has a stellar reputation, is very quick and is very reasonable. The results will be sent back to the submitting vet who can then report to you.

Mikey - Thank you so much for the kind words. We cannot wait to get Sir John/Julio home! We have much to prepare as I have spend all morning cleaning and rearranging the office so when we get the cage out of storage I can set it up and get it ready.

Chas - Thank you!! Lupe is very excited and I think maybe even more excited than me (which surprises me because I am mostly the bird person) The little naked Noble is mostly for her as I know she took Mihijo's death really hard. It is my hope that Sir John/Julio will help her heart heal like Valentino is helping mine heal.

Sodakat - Although having Sir John in my office for quarantine is the best I can do I think it is a good situation. He will be one floor up behind a closed door and does not share the air system. It is my hope that by the time we get him up here my furnace will be off for the year and air con not needed yet so no air flow from the house machine will be on. I like your suggestion but because my vet is very experienced with Noble macaw and we know what we are going to do with his vet check I am going to have her do the blood draws and tests for us. The rescue does have their own Avian vet but I don't want to occur any more costs than I have to with adopting him nor poor down the rescue without being able to help with anymore of their vet costs.
I will talk to Dr. Blair about vmdlabs. I am not sure why that sounds familar and now I have the urge to dig up my birds medical records and check that one out and see if she already does use them. I may it confuse with the U of M too.

Said it before, and I'll say it again! Gratz on being approved! And I can't wait to see him come home!

May is going to feel so far away, awaiting his home-coming!!!! I regret not thinking of him sooner, because I *KNOW* I've seen him before when browsing that site! But hey, it all worked out in the end! I hope he forms a great bond with you and Lupe!

yay noble this is great cant wait to hear about this little guy in the future!

So happy for you! I looked extensively for a noble prior to placing a deposit on a Hahns macaw. Saying a young noble from a breeder is hard to find is an understatement.
Is there a particular reason they are so illussive, other than there not being many individuals that breed them ?

Zazoothehahns said:

So happy for you! I looked extensively for a noble prior to placing a deposit on a Hahns macaw. Saying a young noble from a breeder is hard to find is an understatement.
Is there a particular reason they are so illussive, other than there not being many individuals that breed them ?

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where did you put your deposit down for your hahns? just curious.

I placed a deposit with Mark at the Best Birds Aviary in Florida.
He will be holding it for an extra two weeks, didn't want to bring home a 5month old Hahns, then have to leave it with a family member till we come home from vacation. Not fair to the parrot and not fair to the caregiver.

From what I have seen with my local breeder experience with their Noble macaw pair I believe they do not breed well or are hard to breed. Back in 1995 when I got my first Noble macaw Mihijo the pair was very bonded and produced the two chicks. I was lucky to be able to get the younger one because the older chick was already spoken for BEFORE they even laid eggs.

I was originally looking for a Hahn's macaw because I read about them and realized they would be the perfect little parrot for someone like me. When word got out in our bird club I was looking for a mini macaw that is when I met Mihijo's breeder. Unfortunately Mihijo's father died shortly after they had their one and only clutch. The breeder was able to find another male noble macaw and tried to pair the new male with the female but they never really "took" to each other. Eventually he ended up selling the pair to another club member. They never reproduced any babies. So I wonder....are Noble macaw hard to breed?

Zazoo's parent, I was wondering why you was looking for a Noble macaw? They are not really that well known and very hard to find. I was lucky to be able to find one in a rescue. I never in a million years thought I would be able to find another Noble macaw.

I was drawn to the mini macaws,it is a new family member, but technically, is for my daughter's 16 th birthday. The Hahns was our second choice, a very close second, but the similar personality, playfulness, willingness to interact ( yes, i know they are all individuals that may have their own personalities that have possitive and negative quarks) as well as the slightly larger size and the mixed feedback on them being slightly more mellow and possibly a little less beaky was what made be look into the nobles. Honestly, your past posts on your noble made me look into them even more so......I have extensively combed through info, doing my best to find a parrot that would fit into the level of care, interaction, personality and size we are comfortable with. I know we will need to expect the unexpected, and make changes accordingly.
While I have no issues with rescue animals, I did not think a rescue was a wise choice for us when it came to a parrot. I do have plenty of animal experience, but it is what i consider, minimal when it comes to birds.As far as birds go, I have owned finches, parakeets and lovebirds as pets, many many years ago.

The Hahn's makes and excellent first parrot for so many reasons. That is why I wanted one as well back in the day when I was getting my first parrot. Your daughter will be enchanted and will love the little Hahn's baby.

What you say about the Noble macaw is true. They are very laid back for a mini macaw and are not nippy at all. Mine never nipped or bit anyone his whole life. He loved people but loved food even more. I found my Noble to have an nice even temperament even during hormone season. Anyone could handle him and anyone could walk up to his cage and take him out. Anyone. That always amazed me. Mihijo was with me for almost 18 years so we have a lot of history. He was my companion and a one in a million kind of parrot. I know I will never have another parrot like him.

Needless to say we took his death hard. As much as I loved Mihijo and as hard as I took his death I know Lupe took his loss a lot harder than I did. At first I didn't want to find another Noble macaw. I just could not do it because of my grief but after time I realized that although another Noble would in no way be like Mihijo I really loved the species. When it became apparent that finding a hand fed Noble was almost impossible I expanded to finding any noble macaws. After 2 months of looking I told Lupe there were none to be found and that she should consider a different species. I suggested the blue crown conure, yellow collar macaw, even the Hahn's macaw. She was warming up to the idea of a BCC but she only wanted a Noble macaw.

Finding Sir John was a blessing. I believe this because of what I have been going though with finding a second parrot. After realizing finding another Noble macaw was next to impossible we had long discussion and felt that adopting a parrot in need was what we wanted to do for our second parrot. We made the commitment to take our time and to make sure it was the best match possible with who ever we were to adopt. For a while I thought Valentino was going to be it for us. Nothing seemed to be coming together.

At one last try to find a Noble macaw I put up a thread "Looking for a Noble Macaw" and form members responded with the help of finding one. It was Monica that steered me to Sir John's rescue. He is plucked and no one wants to adopt him despite he has the sweet Noble macaw personality. Although there is no guarantee's of what is to happen with taking Sir John home I know with our experience and support system we can help him be as happy and healthy as he can be.....and we do WANT him.

Here is a picture of Mihijo living the dream. This parrot LOVED food and this was dream come true for the little parrot.



We are not adopting Sir John/Julio just because he is a noble macaw. We are adopting Sir John/Julio because he needs a forever home and we feel strongly we are the best home possible for him. We have experience with Sir John's physical issues (plucking and other Noble macaw issues) Sir John has the typical Noble macaw personality and we are quite happy with that.

Zazoo's parent - I totally understand that you would not be comfortable adopting a rescue instead of getting a baby. Taking home a previously owned bird is not for everyone. I have been living with parrots for over 20 years and this took me a long time to come to conclusion and to find the right parrot to adopt. For your first parrot it is understandable you want it to be the best experience possible giving you and your parrot the best start.

Thank you for understanding and thank you for the encouraging words on our choice. My daughter still does not know what we are getting her, only that we had a list of birds we were considering, as well as a list of pros and cons.we joke and tell her the cages would make a huge home for a finch. I literally have to drag her out of one of the small bird shops that allows us to handle their birds.
Your Mihijo sounded like he was a very special part of your family. I wish you the best of luck with your new family member and look forward to hearing your updates!

I was going to say, if I need to find another noble macaw, I don't think I could do it...

but uhm..... look at this....
Parrot Noble MACAW, Tame ** Best Talker** | Encino | eBay Classifieds (Kijiji) | 25995833

I ....must .......be ......strong...

Good thing they are far away and I won't be tempted to get this sweet girl. It is kind of scary that they don't know how to spell the species name for this bird but then I am not moving forward to try to purchase her. Wish I could but the wording of the add really does put me off. Too many years in the IT field and computer security and degree in Computer Forensics equals a very paranoid internet user. LOL

Maybe some one else will see her value and want to purchase her. I wonder why they would give her up in the first place. Noble macaws are one of the sweetest parrots there are.